Replacing fork on Paramount
 

Hey guys,

In reference to my thread here, I've got a 1999 Schwinn Paramount titanium that came with the original Time carbon fork.

The fork is in pretty rough shape (see pics in the link), and I figure I should replace it if I value my collar bone.

I'd like to get something new to replace it but I'm not very familiar with this type of setup. What would you guys recommend for a 1" steerer tube? Threaded? Threadless?

I'd really appreciate any advice!

Also, which specifications geometry-wise would I need to order an appropriate replacement?

1" threadless is fairly rare, most bikes transitioned to 1-1/8" at the same time they went threadless. You can use a shim to adapt 1-1/8" stems to 1" treadless. Unless you already have 1" threadless headset and stem, probably much easier to just get a threaded fork. They have a tiny weight penalty compared to threadless but are much more easily adjusted for bar height.

Measure the existing fork rake and the Axel-to-Crown measurement and try to get something similar to keep geometry unchanged.

You need to match close to the fork rake and the axle-crown length to keep the geometry the same. Are you going carbon or steel? You will also need to make sure you are getting the right length steer tube. Show us a pic of that bike!

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=262371

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=262372

Shame the fork is in such rough shape.

So I'll stick with threaded. I was wondering your suggestions on material. Is there any particular concern with the 1" steer tube? I'm more concerned with quality and durability than weight. Could you guys recommend any good benchmark forks in 1" threaded for this?

If I got another straight blade 700c fork with the same axle-crown length, would the rake be the same, or at least acceptably similar?

No, different forks come with different rakes. I'm guessing that's a 43 or 45, but you would have to look in a catalog to be sure.

That fork does not look bad to me at all, but if it gives you any doubt, peace of mind is probably worth it.

Do you plan on painting your fork to match the frame? There are some very nice 1" carbon forks out there, but they are expensive and can be hard to find. Wound up makes some very nice forks and they come in steel or carbon steerers. If you are going threaded, you would have to go with a steel steerer.

If it were me, i would go carbon on a ti bike.

I was kind of vacillating about whether to actually replace the fork or not. Did you check out my thread with more pics of the damage?


There is a carbon 1" threaded fork on Nashbar, it looks cheap but I guess it would do the job.

According to the catalog geometry the rake is 40mm on my frame. Would a 43mm fork be too far off?

I can't answer your questions, but did you read the reviews on the Nashbar CF fork. Someone mentions the weight savings over his steel fork was not much.

Here's an option for a steel fork. It's an All City Track Fork. It is straight bladed, white, and comes with a nice investment crown. I'd prefer it in chrome myself, but the white should look nice with the Schwinn decals.

http://www.universalcycles.com/image...dium/32466.jpg

I saw it, and that fork looks to be in pretty good condition, but I absolve myself from any damage done to you or your bike :innocent: . I'm just playing backseat mechanic here. You can bring it to a mechanic you trust to have him/her check it out... or a local framebuilder.

Those Nashbar carbon forks are pretty good deals, but they don't belong on a bike of this caliber. If you are going get a new fork, do right by this bike and get a high quality one and paint it if funds allow.

And 43mm of rake probably isn't a huge deal. I wouldn't go past that. I've only changed from 43 to 45 and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Others, however, said they start noticing the difference in handling at about 5mm difference. Who knows if it's all in their heads.

If you were going to go steel, a chrome or white soma fork would work too. They are around $100-$150.

What's your headtube size? I have a paint stripped ritchey steel fork lying around.

My vote.

Go carbon and go threadless.

Find out what rake / axel to crown you need and then go shopping...

This is a solid, sub $200 fork. http://www.ebay.com/itm/220839402009...84.m1423.l2649

I would also suggest a Wound Up (if you can stomach the looks) or a Reynolds Ouzo Pro if you can find one new or low miles. You need to be careful buying a used carbon fork... I've done it twice now so I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, just make sure you're comfortable with its history.

EDIT. I agree with others above, I would probably go up to 43 but not any further. I've gone back and forth between 43 and 45 and never noticed a difference...

SOMA Bicycles makes quite a few replacement forks....

There an all Chrome one that's straight-bladed available. Comes in threaded or threadless. Threaded has a rake of 41mm. SOMA Track Fork

The steertube looks like 165 or 170mm, I guess I would have to remove the fork to get a proper measurement eh?


I've actually got a Velo Orange stem adapter for threadless stems on there, so there might not be much point to going threadless.

Going threaded in that case would be the cheapest approach. I like the look of that threaded on from soma. I only wish they made lugged replacement forks for bikes with 26" wheels and cantilever brakes.

Bummer, my fork won't work for you.

I'll add that threadless setups provide much more stiffness than a quill setup or threadless adapter. If it were me, I'd go threadless. The adapter is really only for using modern stems and bars. Adapters look pretty funky to me, but that can be mitigated by using spacers. IMO, the adapter doesn't really provide much benefit and takes away from the aesthetics overall.

Quills = elegance and adjusting
Threadless = stiffness and easier changeability of bars (but can look damn good if you do it right)

As would I.

FYI - with that being a track fork, the rake is way off; 30mm vs. 40mm. A few mm might not be a noticeable difference but this would. The other issue with a (real) track fork is tire clearance but I can't comment on this one.

Anyway, my vote is for a Wound Up. IMO they look good on metal bikes and they're made in the USA!

Also, getting a fork painted to match a metallic colored frame is prohibitively expensive (at least for me). It's harder to match metallic colors for a number of reasons and the cost of doing so goes from ~$150 for a solid/non-metallic color to about $300 (based on my experience with two Seattle area builders.

Your other option is to use the fork you have (get it checked out by a good shop) and then go hunting in the nail polish aisle! I have a bike almost the same color as yours and found a nail polish that matched very well without any real problem.

Good luck!

Are threadless known to be weaker in 1" diameter? Is the shim much of a problem to deal with?


The guy who I got the bike from was reasonably knowledgeable and he didn't seem too concerned about the condition of the fork. He had some work done on it at a reputable store and didn't mention if they said anything about the condition of the fork either.

Maybe the original fork isn't in as bad a condition as I think.

can you measure your existing fork? once you have the data. then you can shop the numbers.

fork tip, axis of axle to crown race seat. + rake/offset.
mosre accurate with fork out of frame steerer in a V block
to secure it level to the table surface,

then you can measure
the difference between steerer tube center line.
and the axis point at the center of the hub axle

Serrota is in New York, .. hand made premium alloy steel?

Waterford is another US source..
one of the Schwinns is an owner/partner of that firm..

The threadless 1" is easy to cope with.. Top tier headsets
are made Chris King , Campag Etc.
and the shim to use a 9/8" stems on 7/8" steerer tubes are sold.
advantage to steel steerers , they still are butted at the bottom,
just now no threads are cut.

and no prob, the stem pinch bolts squeeze the slotted shim
to grip the steerer tube, just fine..

Personally, I would ride the current fork and not worry too much about it. However, I wouldn't tell somebody else it was safe to ride... Make your own decision about that and maybe have a person who works with carbon or builds frames inspect it.

Just a couple of cautionary suggestions..

Replacing your fork with 40mm rake for one with 43mm rake will shorten the trail from 55mm to 52mm assuming the 74° head tube angle shown in the 1999 Paramount geometry drawing. That reduction in trail may or may not be noticeable as slightly reduced steering stability.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...nGeometery.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...mrake74HTA.jpg

Some fork manufacturers provide the axle-to-crown dimension while others provide the fork length. These are not the same, so make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Also, the brake hole center height is measured two ways depending on the manufacturer; one is the height above the axle while the other is the dimension of the brake hole center below the crown race, so make sure you're measuring the center of the brake hole in the Time fork the same way the replacement fork manufacturer is measuring it.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...kLengthDef.jpg

From the pictures, looks like the damage to the fork is just chipping paint, not structurlaly compromized carbon. One option for peace of mind, you could strip the paint from your existing carbon fork and reinforce any suspect areas with an additional wrap of carbon fibre + epoxy to strenghten and then re-paint.


The stem/handlebar height in the picture is setup fairly high. If this is your preferred height, I would stay with a threaded fork + headset. Using a threadless fork at such high bar height requires a tall stack of unsightly spacers and/or a rising stem, just doesnt look nice on a high end racing bike. This bike would also look much better if you ditch the threadless stem adapter and get a proper quill stem meant for a threaded fork, this would also be a good opportunity to change the stem length if it does not fit you perfectly as-is.

Just wanted to put in another vote for a threadless fork. I do love my vintage stuff, but on a bike of this age with those components, there's really no reason to stick with threaded. I feel threadless is one of those things that really is an improvement in newer bikes. It's lighter and made perfect headset adjustment So simple, and with no special tools needed. Are you gonna still use the stem you have with the spacer(It's 1 1/8, right?) and a stack of steer tube spacers to keep the height? I personally would look at getting a new stem with some rise to it that will fit the steer tube without spacers.

If it were my bike, I'd take a serious look at Wound Up as Der_Kruscher suggests. The make 40mm rake 700c carbon forks with 1" steerer tubes, either threaded or threadless. They're pricey, but worth it IMHO.

http://www.woundupcomposites.com/specs.html

3speed brings up a good point. Many companies specify a 30mm spacer stackheight max for carbon steerers. If you want to hit the current height, you might need a higher rise stem or use a carbon fork with a steel steerer.

I think you should not listen to Der_Kruscher (he suggest the wound up) and go with my suggestion, which is my earlier suggestion of the wound up since Kruscher is a shady character. ;)

These forks can come with steel steeres too FYI.

Haha there are like 5 suggestions for a Wound Up in this thread...They are supposedly one of the better riding carbon forks but I just find them terrible looking. Painted to match the frame they aren't that bad...

I recently passed one up for $125 or something similar (dumb, I know), purely for aesthetics. I went with an Ouzo Pro which has more classic lines / curved blades.